Crash Course
by twinsister27
Summary: A story about a girl teaching her sister who is about the start writing Fanfiction some basic stuff about Fanfiction and the site-such as writing a good Summary, OC, and making a Schedule for Updates on your stories. Will be updated every Monday.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Good Grasps

"Okay, Cece, you want to learn how to be a successful Fic writer?" Ally asked her thirteen-year-old sister who just made a account. "I'm sure, Ally. I want to be famous real quickly!" "I never said I would teach you how to be famous. Just how to be a good writer. I'll teach you the roots of the site and basic features, from uploading documents and images to how to establish DocX connections with people," the seventeen-year-old said.

"The first thing you should know before you publish a Fanfiction is that anyone can and will see what you write; so you should take your time on it," Ally explained. "You should also have a good grasp on what you're writing about," she explained.

"What's it mean to have a good grasp on what you're writing about?" Cece asked. "Well, it means that you should know all the characters, locations, continuity-events that happened in the show-and how the character's relationships with each other work. For example, if I were to write about a normally nice, patient character, but in my story they acted mean and rude to everyone, they would be OOC-Out of Character. This means they don't act normal in the story. This annoys many readers and won't want to read more, since they're used to the characters acing a certain way. If you make a character act OOC on purpose, then you should put that in the summary of your Fanfiction."

A/N: Next week we get to learn about how to make the most important part of your entire Fanfiction-Summaries!


	2. Chapter 2: Summaries

Chapter Two: Summaries

"What are some things I should keep in mind while making a summary?" "Glad you asked. In your summary, you should give a basic idea of what your Fanfic is about, but not give away the ending or resort to a cliché. If I were to write a romance fanfic, and put that as a category, and I said "will they find a way to make this relationship work?" it would be a cliché, since it's marked as romance. There are also some warnings you should put in your Fanfiction's summary.

If your story features any form of Abuse, Male Pregnancy, Gorey Violence, or Death for example, you should warn people about it in the summary so people know about it and it doesn't come out of nowhere. There are also some specific terms to refer to this. To the ones listed, they would be Abuse, Mpreg, Gore (or something to say there's a lot of violence), and Death. If there is a death, you should also warn if it is very detailed and graphic."

"What if I just don't want to put a summary, since I don't know how to write one?" "Don't not put a summary. Put a summary, no matter how short. If you put a quote relevant to the story from the story, you can use that as a summary. If you say "The summary sucks" or you use chat speak, people won't want to read your Fanfiction since if you don't like your story, why would anyone else? If you use chat speech, it makes people think the entire story is typed like that. A summary is the first thing someone sees of your story before it's published, so take your time making it," Ally informed Cece. "I didn't know that," Cece realized. "That's what I'm here for," Ally reassured the new writer.

A/N: Now that you know how to make a Summary, you need to know how to properly Rate a Fanfiction. That's what we'll do next week!


	3. Chapter 3: Ratings

Chapter Three: Rating

"What are the possible ratings of a Fanfiction on this site?" Ally asked her sister. "Um…K…K Plus…Teen…M…and MA?" Cece guessed. "K, K Plus, T, and M," Ally corrected her. "MA is not allowed on since this site is for people thirteen and up-like you. Though there is an 18+ site for people over 18 to write MA fanfiction. It's called , but you shouldn't go check it out until you are 18," Ally informed Cece.

"The Ratings stand for Kids, Kids Plus-which basically means older kids-Teen, Mature, and Mature Adult. K means anyone over the age of five can read this story. It doesn't have any violence or swears.

K Plus is for anyone over nine years old. There can be some violence but not any graphic injury or death.

Teen is for, well, teens. There can be violence, minor coarse language-swearing-and minor adult themes.

Mature is for anyone 16 or older. It has non-explicit suggestive adult themes, violence, and coarse language. It should be pretty easy to see where your story fits."

A/N: You should know a Summary of your story, and how to choose a Rating. Next week, we'll cover Updates and Schedules.


	4. Chapter 4: Updates and Schedules

Chapter Four: Updates and Schedules

"How often are you planning to update your fanfictions?" Ally asked Cece. "Every day," she answered. "It isn't good to update your fanfiction every day since then less people will see it in the long run," Ally told her sister. "Why not?" Cece asked.

"If you update a fanfiction, you get your story on the front page of Updated Stories. This is good, because people see it. Only if you update a story every day, you get less people seeing it. If you update the same series once a week, there's a lot of time between new Chapters, but it lets new readers find the story, and catch up on the story, while letting old readers enjoy a new chapter." "Then how do I schedule it all?" Cece wondered.

"You should choose if you want to update on Monday Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday Thursday and Saturday. Choose a series to go on the first day, one for the second day, and if you have one, one for the third day. Sunday can be used if you need it. You should also choose if you want to update every other week on the longer stories that take time to write. This way, you will know if you need to update, and more importantly, what to update."

"What should I put my schedule on?" "Well, since you're writing stories on a computer, you should put it in a Word Document called Schedule. Go onto Google Images and search up a month and a year. Choose a calendar you like, and copy and paste it into the Word Document. Make sure it's at least a Page of the document.

Now go to Insert, and click Text Box. Type an abbreviation for your story in the Text Box. You can make an abbreviation by typing the first letter of each word of the title in capital letters. Say Publish (Abbreviation) and size it to the smallest you can, while also seeing then entire Text Box. Do this for Updates by saying Update (Abbreviation) (Ch. 2) for each chapter. You'll know what to update, and what Chapter to Update. Do this for each story. Make sure to say where the Story will end."

A/N: Now that you have a Summary of your story, a proper Rating, and a planned Schedule for at least a month, you need to go over any Original Characters (OCs). That's what we'll be doing next week!


	5. Chapter 5: Original Characters

Chapter Five: Original Characters

"Original Characters are a big thing in the Fanfiction universe. There are so many bad, poorly written Characters out there. These Characters are called Mary Sue and Gary Stu. These characters are overly perfect, have many talents and many powers or can do something way better than Canon Character-characters from the show," Ally explained. "How bad can they be?" Cece asked.

"They usually have fancy or unusual names, have either a tragic or spoiled backstory, and very hard things for the rest of the characters are easy for them." "What about the many talents thing?" "Mary Sue and Gary Stu characters can have talents such as playing an instrument, singing, and hobbies such as writing or drawing. These talents are seen as Unnecessary Details. They play an instrument? Unless they're in a Band or something later, why? Singing gets a lot of flames in writing, because it's writing. We do not know what they sound like. Writing and Drawing, anyone is capable of doing, and the characters are probably not a Professional Artist or Author." "But as long as a Character is whatever species the main characters-"

"Most OCs are Human when Canon ones are Human, for example. If your character is Human, has Blue Hair, Purple Eyes, an Animal Companion, and a Special Power or two or three, these are big flags. The Character should be able to blend into the universe.

Most OCs are also a Main Character. Mary Sue and Gary Stu are Main Characters to the point of where the Canon Characters aren't Main Characters anymore. I hope I gave you some insight on what an OC Mary Sue or Gary Stu is."

A/N: Now you know your story Summary, Rating, Schedule, and you got rid of Mary Sue and Gary Stu. Next week we will go over Cliffhangers.


	6. Chapter 6: Cliffhangers

Chapter Six: Cliffhangers

"What's a Cliffhanger? That sounds like someone's gonna die!" Cece said. Ally giggled. "Cliffhangers are when an Author wants to build up Hype for the Big Climatic Event of their Story. It's like this:

A Total Drama Fanfiction. A Character is going to be Eliminated, because that's how Total Drama works. The Marshmallows are being given out-or whatever the Safe Object is-and they're down to three. The Author will want to make people guess who's going to be Eliminated, so they make the show go to Commercial, and when the show comes back is when they Update it again to show who was Eliminated. That's a good example of a Cliffhanger, since it makes people want the story to be Updated so they can find out."

A/N: Now you know what a Summary, Rating, Schedule, Good OC, and Cliffhanger all are. Next week we will talk about Author Notes and Hiatuses. By the way, next Chapter is the final one.


	7. Chapter 7: Author's Notes and Hiatuses

Chapter Seven: Author Notes and Hiatuses

"What do you think an Author's Note is, Cece?" Ally asked. "I think it's a note from the Author about the story." Cece guessed. "Exactly! What should an Author's Note say?" "It should say…it should clarify any confusion of a Chapter," Cece answered. "Well, that's not fully wrong. Author's Notes, or A/N, should do the following: Respond to Reviews, Clarify Things, and Announce Things. An A/N should never take a whole Chapter. In fact, whole Chapters being Author Notes are actually against Rules and Guidelines. The A/N should be separated from the Fic by labeling where the story starts. One way you can do this is by putting the Chapter Title-even if it is just Chapter One or something like that-in Bold font.

"What do you think a Hiatus is?" "I think it's…well a TV Show Hiatus is where no new Episodes are being aired, so is it where no now Chapters of a Fanfiction are being Posted?" "That's exactly correct! Hiatuses are where an Author isn't Updating a Story. The most likely reasons for this are either the Author needs time to Write the next few Chapters, or the Author isn't going to be able to Update for a long time.

One good reason for a Hiatus is Summer Vacation. Most people go Camping, or on a Vacation or two, or to a Camp during the summer. Probably all three. They won't be home on certain days, so they put a story on Hiatus so they won't have to Update it. They typically add the words "On Hiatus" to the summary." Ally explained.

A/N: I am now on Hiatus. When I come back, we will talk about Betas and DocX.


	8. Chapter 8: Betas and DocX

Chapter Eight: Betas and DocX

"What's a Beta? Why's it called a Beta?" Cece asked. "Well, a Beta is someone who reads your story before it is published. They check for any errors, and tell you what they think of it. They're called Betas because they are the second person to read your Fanfiction-you are the Alpha, or first person. They are the Beta, or second person." Ally explained.

"How do I send stuff to my Beta so only they see it?" Cece asked. "Well, has a feature called DocX. DocX is something you use to send files to someone for them to read.

To send something to someone, first you need to establish a Connection. To establish a Connection, both Authors must go to the DocX tab, and select Connections. They both send a Connection to the other, and the Connection is made. Then they can exchange Documents.

To make a DocX Document, go to the Doc Manager. Select your Document to Upload, but make sure it is on DocX. This means the file can only be shown using the DocX feature-it can't be Published.

Send the Document by going to DocX and clicking Outbox. When you Send the Document, you should put in the Description anything you want the Beta to look for in particular. DocX Documents are only kept in the person's Inbox for a week. Then, regardless of if the person saw it, it gets deleted. They'll Edit the file and send it back, pointing out anything in the Description of the Document.

Then you can Delete the DocX Document if you are the Beta, and you can Delete the Doc Manager Document when you receive the Beta version from the Beta. Make any Final Changes, and then View the Document. Copy and Paste it into a Word Document, and Upload that New File into the Document Manager. Then you can Publish or Update it on the appropriate day." "Thanks for telling me all that, Ally. I feel like I learned a lot," Cece said. "You did learn a lot. Anything else you want to know?" Ally asked. "I have some ideas…" Cece said. "Like what?" Ally asked.

A/N: I have a few chapters planned! (I literally just thought of these yesterday.) The story will continue to be updated until these chapters are complete!

-Updating on Multiple Sites

-Responding to Comments/Reviews

-Balancing School and Writing

-Breaks (Different than Hiatuses)

-How to Write in another Fandom

-How to Accept a Request

-How to Deny a Request

-How Long a Fanfiction Should Be


	9. Chapter 9: Updating on Multiple Sites

Chapter Nine: Updating on Multiple Sites

"You also have an Archive of Our Own account and Quotev account, right? How do you update on those, as well as Fanfiction?" Cece asked her sister.

"Well, it's really easy! I have a file on my computer called FFN Schedule, which is short for this site. I also have an AO3 Schedule and Quotev Schedule. If you look on each of them, you'll see that I update a few stories on the same day on different sites, but a lot of stories are updated on different sites on different days. I just keep the username the same-AlleyCat1999-and tell people that I have an account on there as well. I delete the text box once the story is updated, so I know I've updated it on that site," Ally explained. "That makes a lot of sense," Cece said. "What else do you want to know?" Ally asked. "Let's see…" Cece thought.

A/N: I have a Quotev, but not AO3. I do put my Power Rangers stories on the Power Rangers Fanon Wikia, though!


	10. Chapter 10:Responding to CommentsReviews

Chapter Ten: Responding to Comments/Reviews

A/N: Thanks to all of my Followers and anyone who's Favourited, Reviewed, or even just Read, ANY of my fanfictions on this site. This chapter goes out to you! This is the most sincere Chapter of this fic. Special thanks to Ally for saying it for me.

"Why do you make an effort to reply to every comment and review on all of your stories on all the different sites?" Cece asked. "That's easy! I just want to thank them for reading my story!" Ally said. "Why do you do it in the next Chapter?" was Cece's next question. "I want them to see it, and I know that they should see the next Chapter I post, since they read my fanfic.

In case they don't stay long, I put the replies at the top, before the stories, and I also say thanks to anyone who Follows and Favourites my stories, but I keep it general because so many people can Follow or Favourite my story, and I get way more of those than Reviews. I just want them to know that I see that they Favourited or Followed my story, which means they like it. If they Follow or Favourite ME, it's even better, because they love my writing.

They aren't saying 'I love this story and I want it to be updated!' That's what they're saying by Following and Favouriting. 'I love this story!' is what they say by just Favouriting a story, and 'I want to see this story be Updated!' is what they mean by Following a story. When they Follow ME, the Author, they say 'I love your writing!' and when they Favourite ME, the Author, it's the best thing ever, because they're telling me 'You are one of my Favourite Authors on this website!'"

"I never quite thought of it like that…" Cece said.


	11. Chapter 11: Balancing School and Writing

Chapter Eleven: Balancing School and Writing

"Anyways, on a lighter topic, now that it's September, and school's started up again, how can I keep up with my writing?" Cece asked. "Well, if you want to lighten the amount of updates every week, but still be coming out with new stuff, you should announce in an Author's Note that there is a schedule change due to school starting up, and then tell them when the story will be updated. A good idea for this would be updating a story bi-weekly instead of weekly, so you have more time to write Chapters.

Make sure to do your homework before Fanfiction, too! Your Readers can totally understand if you're a day late with a new Chapter! Your teachers probably won't like you turning in assignments late, especially if 'I had to write a Fanfiction' is your excuse." Ally informed her sister.

A/N: By the way, guys, I scheduled FNAF the Musical: Redone to come out this month on Mondays, because Halloween and all, but I wanted to keep going with this fic since I came up with ideas. I'm changing the day of Updates for this fic from Mondays to Wednesdays. This story will be Updated regularly, but it'll be on Wednesday from now on until it's done.


	12. Chapter 12: Breaks (Not Hiatuses)

Chapter Twelve: Breaks (Different than Hiatuses)

"If I take a Hiatus in the summer, and then end my Hiatus, and then start school, and I get too busy with school to update and write, then what do I do?" Cece asked. "I would then say you should take a Break," Ally decided. "I just took a Hiatus for two whole months!" Cece snapped.

"Breaks are different. Breaks are a time where you just don't update for a few weeks to get used to something, and once you're used to it, you can resume focusing on writing and Updating. A few reasons why would be, but it's not limited to:

-New school year started.

-New school semester started.

-Moving, Wedding, Funeral, or another Family Event.

-A series of medical appointments.

-Vacation or Camping.

-Winter or Spring Break."

"What does the last point mean?" Cece was confused. "Well, when it's the holiday season, such as Christmas, a lot of parties and family dinners and stuff will be going on, so if you update your story, they might not see it. It's just easier because you know that you'll be busy with other things, so you have a week off. Kind of like how people with real jobs take off time for the holidays.


	13. Chapter 13: Writing In A New Fandom

Chapter Thirteen: How to Write in another Fandom

"What if I want to write about a different Fandom?" Cece asked. "What does that mean?" Ally needed clarification. "Like, I want to keep writing about what I write, but I also want to write about something I don't know my readers will like?" "Just go ahead and do it, then!" Ally answered.

"It might be weird, but just add it to your schedule and post the first Chapter! People who read that Fandom will come! Then you'll have even more Readers!" Ally said. "Won't the Readers from before be confused?" Cece worried. "They shouldn't, but if they do, and they ask via PM or Review, reply to them saying that you got into that Fandom and are now writing about it. That's all," Ally reassured her sister.


	14. Chapter 14: Accepting Requests

Chapter Fourteen: How to Accept a Request

"Hypothetically, if I was really good, and someone Requested a Fanfiction, and I liked and wanted to do it, what would I say to them?" Cece asked. "First thing's first, ask them what it's about and what it's rated. Once you know that, ask how long they want it to be in Chapters. Then go to your schedule, on the site they sent the Request using, and see when the first available day you want is. It's important that you just do it on the site they requested it using, because they might not want it on another site.

Make a text box, and put in it an abbreviation of the Title (the first letter of the main words) but instead of Publish or Update, say RESERVED FOR. Copy and paste this for however many Chapters they said, and then get to writing! You should also message them telling them the date it is scheduled to Start and Finish. Keep them informed of any changes to the story Title, Start and End Dates, to be polite."


	15. Chapter 15: Denying Requests

Chapter Fifteen: How to Deny a Request

"On the contrary, if you want to deny the Request-because you don't know the Fandom, it's something you don't feel comfortable writing, or any other reason, message them back and say nicely that while you like that they want you to write a fanfiction, but you can't because- and then say your reason why not. It could be as simple as 'I don't take Requests, but you can ask someone else.' Its fine if you don't want to, and if they keep asking you to, Block them."


End file.
